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Black Scale, and Lady-bird Larvae (Saissetia oleae) Adult. 



The young are hatched but once a year usually, from about 

 July 1st to September 1st, though where the hatch has not been 

 controlled by fumigation, off hatches often occur at other seasons. 

 Some hatch as early as April and May, and in this case they have 

 time to mature and a second hatch occurs, making two broods in 

 the one year. The young are, at first, so small as to be seen with 

 difficulty, are pale yellow and move quite freely but slowly on the 

 twigs and leaves of the host plant. In a few days they force their 

 proboscis through the outer skin of the leaves or bark and begin 

 to live on the sap, seldom moving until about three or four months 

 old, when they crawl back to the last growth of young wood, seal 

 themselves fast, remain until matured, when they begin to deposit 

 eggs. It is difficult to say just how long it takes to deposit all the 

 eggs, also how long the eggs remain dormant, as weather. conditions 

 control this scale through all its stages. 



They begin to turn darker as soon as hatched and they crawl 

 from under the shell. A tough skin begins to form over the back 

 at once, getting thicker and darker as the insect grows. During 

 the first two months it is so flat and so near the color of the dust 

 covered leaves that many persons fail to notice it at. all, or if they 



